Chapter 14

Zhenzhen once again experienced that mysterious sensation. It felt as though she had merged with the earth itself. Not only could she see the roots and stems of various plants in the soil, but she could also feel the vegetation growing on the surface of the ground.

She traversed across the land, and the sweet potatoes and potatoes buried in the ground immediately multiplied from one to two, then from two to a pile. The cornstalks on the maize plants unexpectedly grew two more ears of corn…

Zhenzhen, lying on the heated bed, fell into a deep sleep, but her consciousness continued to wander across the land. She arrived by the river and saw the fish swimming in the water, and also noticed Ming Nan and Ming Bei, who were fishing on the shore with fishing rods. Zhenzhen thought to herself that she hadn’t eaten any fish since growing her sharp teeth, and her mouth watered. She quickly urged two plump fish weighing about ten pounds to bite the hook.

On the shore, Ming Nan and Ming Bei suddenly jerked their fishing rods downward, both exclaiming in surprise and frantically pulling the rods upwards. Zhenzhen couldn’t help but laugh and continued to control her consciousness to move towards the familiar Red Pine Mountain. At that moment, three women picking wild vegetables and mushrooms sat on a rock, pulling out the wild vegetable dumplings they had brought. They also picked a few half-ripe wild fruits from the trees and ate them to satisfy their hunger.

“Come to pick again today, but it hasn’t rained much this year, and the mushrooms are becoming scarcer,” said one of the women, drinking from a wild fruit to quench her thirst.

“You’re right,” complained another woman, clearly frustrated. “But we still have to come and try our luck. If we bring some back and dry them, at least we’ll have something to eat in the winter.”

“Mushrooms can’t really fill you up. I think hunting is still necessary. I saw Li Muwu from Old Li’s family take his hunting rifle up the mountain again today. I wonder if they’ll get anything.”

Zhenzhen noticed that the mushrooms and wild vegetables near the foot of the mountain had almost all been picked, and she sighed. With a small hand, she gently pointed downward, and a green light burrowed into the soil, causing fresh wild vegetables and plump mushrooms to sprout.

The further she went into the mountain, the fewer people there were. Suddenly, a gunshot rang out. Zhenzhen hurriedly followed the sound and saw Li Muwu, holding a hunting rifle, aiming at a wild boar with tusks. The injured wild boar glared at Li Muwu, looking fierce and menacing. Ming Xi, holding a hunting knife, stood behind, nervously swallowing as he stared at the wild boar’s long tusks.

Li Muwu usually went hunting when he had free time. He could easily find wild chickens or rabbits without going far, but if he wanted more meat, he had to venture deeper into the forest.

The next day, Ming Dong was going to take a train to Ice City for university, and Li Muwu had planned to hunt a roe deer to make a stew for Ming Dong before he left home. But they hadn’t seen any roe deer along the way. Li Muwu and Ming Xi had ventured farther into the mountain, only to confront the wild boar head-on.

In the past, when hunting wild boars, they usually had seven or eight people, and at least three hunting rifles. Li Muwu, although holding a rifle, was not entirely confident, especially since he was blocking Ming Xi with the rifle.

The pain from its wounds enraged the wild boar. It shook its head and let out an angry roar before charging at Li Muwu. Li Muwu took a step back and fired at the wild boar.

Unfortunately, the wild boar was too large. Even though Li Muwu’s shot hit its head, the boar staggered but didn’t fall.

Another roar sounded, and the wild boar seemed to realize how dangerous the rifle was. It shifted slightly to the left, and as Li Muwu adjusted his aim, the boar suddenly lunged to the right.

Li Muwu watched helplessly as the wild boar rushed past him, and his heart sank. He quickly turned to look, and saw Ming Xi, holding the hunting knife, successfully strike down on the wild boar’s head. Zhenzhen, watching from the side, felt nervous and worried about the boar biting Ming Xi. Instinctively, she stretched out her small hand and patted the boar’s head, causing it to stagger and fall to the ground, dead.

Ming Xi, releasing the knife, took two steps back, his legs trembling in fear. He pointed at the boar’s mangled head and, still in disbelief, asked, “Did I kill it?”

“Seems like it,” Li Muwu replied, staring at the large dent in the boar’s skull, still uncertain. “How did you manage to smash its skull in one strike?”

“I don’t know!” Ming Xi nearly cried. “This isn’t the first time I’ve hunted with you, but maybe I was too scared and put too much strength into it.”

After resting for a while, the two of them hung the wild boar to bleed it out. A wild boar of this size couldn’t be carried down the mountain by just the two of them. Following their usual hunting procedure, after draining the blood, they immediately gutted the boar, dividing the meat. Whatever they couldn’t carry would be left on the mountain for whoever found it.

After bleeding it, Li Muwu used the hunting knife to cut off the four legs of the boar and tied two of them with hemp ropes, giving them to Ming Xi to carry. He also chopped off most of the boar’s body, not minding the foul odor, and directly placed the large piece of boar meat on his shoulder.

Li Muwu was used to carrying heavy sacks of grain at the store. He could carry a 200-pound sack of grain easily, so he moved quickly. The wild boar’s body, weighing more than 300 pounds, was heavy on his shoulder, but he still urged Ming Xi, “Hurry up. This wild boar takes a long time to cook. We need to stew it for a while, or we might not eat it until late tonight.”

The father and son walked for half an hour before they faintly heard voices. Li Muwu, recognizing the familiar sound, followed it and saw three women digging wild vegetables. When they saw a bloodied figure emerging from behind a tree, they were startled.

“Oh my, Li Muwu, you scared me to death,” one woman said as she stood up, then noticed the wild boar on Li Muwu’s back. She immediately became envious. “You caught a wild boar! How lucky are you?”

“Zhao Dashi, Li Shaozi, and Gangzi’s wife are you digging vegetables?,” Li Muwu greeted each woman warmly and pointed up the mountain. “There’s still a bit left. Tell your husbands to hurry and carry it back, or some wild animal might take it.”

“Why bother with the men? We’ll take care of it,” Zhao Dashi said, rolling up her sleeves and patting the axe at her waist. “Hurry up. Why are we digging wild vegetables when we have wild boar meat?”

“How can we carry such a big wild boar? It’s over a hundred pounds,” Gangzi’s wife hesitated a little, clearly nervous.

Li Shaozi rolled her eyes and lightly tapped Gangzi’s wife on the forehead. “You’re not hungry yet, are you? we have food, but you’re worried about carrying it back? We’ll bring it back no matter what.”

Seeing Gangzi’s wife looking pale, Zhao Dashi laughed. She put down the vegetable basket, grabbed her, and started walking up the mountain. “Don’t listen to your Li Auntie scaring you. I have an axe. We’ll split it and carry it back. But we agreed—if you can’t carry it, your Li Auntie and I will share it.”

Gangzi’s wife bit her lip, looked at the large boar on Li Muwu’s back, and said, “There’s nothing we can’t carry. Auntie, let’s go.”

Zhao Dashi agreed, then turned to Li Muwu and said, “Brother Muwu, thank you! Tomorrow, I’ll send over a bowl of meatballs I make.”

“That’s great. Your meatballs are delicious,” Li Muwu said with a simple smile.

Li Shaozi quickly chimed in, “You didn’t take the pig’s head? I’ll take it home and cook it for you, and let Li Dage bring it to you.”

“Okay, your cooked pig head tastes better than Dongzi’s mother’s. We still have some sorghum liquor at home, so tell Li Dage to come and drink at my place.”

Seeing that both women had something to offer, Gangzi’s wife quickly became anxious. She fiddled with her clothes and said, “How about I make some pork dumplings and send them to Uncle Li?”

Li Muwu laughed. “Everyone is short on food, don’t waste the dough. You two just got married and it’s not easy living alone, so keep the food for yourselves.” He said as he led his son down the mountain without looking back.

Since killing the wild boar, Zhenzhen hadn’t stopped. She continued floating deeper into the mountains. Suddenly, she noticed something yellow buried about three or four meters deep in the soil. Just as she was about to explore, she heard Wang Sufen’s voice. “Zhenzhen, wake up! How can you sleep so much?”

Her consciousness instantly returned to her body. Zhenzhen opened her eyes, looking around the room, still somewhat groggy. Wang Sufen, seeing her lying there dazed, couldn’t help but laugh and lightly tap her little butt. “This little rascal has been asleep for five or six hours. If you don’t wake up now, how will you sleep tonight?”

Li Laotai, poking her head in from outside, said, “She’s probably still in a sleepy daze, but it’s fine. At her age, sleeping helps her grow. Zhenzhen has always been easy to take care of since she was little.”

Wang Sufen washed a towel and wiped Zhenzhen’s face. Zhenzhen finally came to her senses. She quickly sat up, climbed to the windowsill, and looked outside. She couldn’t help but recall the sensation from her dream. Zhenzhen wasn’t sure whether her soul or consciousness had left her body, but the feeling didn’t tire her. Instead, it was as if she was soaking in warm water during the cold winter months, feeling comforted and nourished by the earth.

Wang Sufen saw Zhenzhen sitting on the windowsill and didn’t get up. She quickly clapped her hands and called to her, “Come here, I’ll carry you to eat egg cakes.” Zhenzhen patted her belly, realizing she had missed lunch, and quickly crawled over to Wang Sufen.

Wang Sufen picked her up and carried her into the west room. Guihua, seeing Zhenzhen come out, quickly brought a bowl of tender egg cake from the big pot. She also opened the cabinet, took a spoonful of crushed pine nuts, and sprinkled them on top of the egg cake.

Wang Sufen, sitting under the stove with Zhenzhen in her arms, fed her bite by bite. Guihua opened another pot lid and began removing the flatbreads, placing them on the side to cool.

Wang Sufen glanced at the clock and said, “It’s going to take several days on the train. Tomorrow, fry some egg sauce and pack it in a jar for Mingdong to take on the train.”

Guihua nodded quickly, and just then, Mingnan and Mingbei burst through the door, calling out loudly, “Grandma! Mom! Look what we caught!”

Li Laotai, holding a pipe, leisurely walked out and immediately saw Mingbei holding a ten-kilo fish and Mingnan carrying a wooden bucket, from which splashes of water were flying. She couldn’t help but smile. “Such a big fish? You two boys are something!”

Li Laotai bent down and peered into the bucket. “Wow, there’s still a live one in there!”

“Hurry up, put this live one in the big basin at home, and place it somewhere high. Don’t let the rats steal it tonight,” Li Laotai commanded, still yelling at Guihua. “Quickly bring the fish inside, and we’ll divide it into two meals.” She also told Mingbei, “Go to your third uncle’s house and invite them over for dinner tonight.”

Mingbei, sitting on a small wooden bench by the door, rubbed his arm and groaned, “Oh, grandma, let me rest for a bit. My brother and I struggled for almost an hour to get these two fish home.”

In the past, Li Laotai would have called him useless and smacked him with her pipe. But today, seeing the fish, she generously let it go, instead giving the boys some roasted pine nuts to satisfy their hunger.

The courtyard was lively, when suddenly, a loud, thunderous voice yelled from outside, “My heavens!”

Li Laotai jumped in fright and immediately retorted, “What are you shouting for? I’m not dead yet!”

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